The present invention relates to an improved skate.
Conventional skates with aligned wheels are currently constituted by a shell associated with a frame having two or more wheels.
Among the drawbacks observed in these conventional skates, the fact is stressed that they do not support the user's leg in an optimum manner according to the different needs required by the various sports specialties, such as speed skating or slalom.
The use of levers in fact merely allows to secure the flaps of the shell more or less tightly without allowing any adjustment in the fitting of the shell on the foot.
Technical problems arise in the attempt to apply to the skates the same production method of other fields, such as the field of ski boots, for example, in which a quarter is used in addition to the shell. French patent application no. 7623112, filed on 23 Jul. 1976, discloses a ski boot comprising a supporting element interposed between two flaps obtained at a recess formed on the rear-upper part of the shoe and allowing backward inclination of the skier's leg.
This solution cannot be applied to a skate with aligned wheels, as it is necessary to achieve at all times optimum securing and support of the leg.
Swiss patent application no. CH 668 682 A5, filed on 6 Jun. 1986, discloses a ski boot comprising a quarter articulated to a shell and having securing means interacting, at one end, with said quarter by virtue of fixing means which can be adjusted vertically. For this solution, too, it is possible to improve the securing action according to the inclination of the quarter.
This known solution, too, like the preceding ,one, cannot be used for a skate with aligned wheels, also due to a further problem, namely the presence of a device which allows braking.
Indeed, in this respect, in conventional roller skates, whether constituted by a shoe associated with a support for two pairs of mutually parallel wheels or by a shoe associated with a supporting frame for two or more aligned wheels, there is the problem of braking the wheels to adjust the speed of the skate.
It is known to use adapted blocks or pads, usually made of rubber, arranged at the toe or heel region of the shoe. When the user tilts the shoe forwards or backwards, the free end of the blocks or pads interacts with the ground, and braking is thus achieved.
However, these solutions are not optimum, as they require the user to rotate the shoe, and thus the frame associated therewith, at the toe or at the heel, and this can cause loss of balance with consequent falls.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,402,010 discloses a roller skate having a band that can be secured to the user's leg above the malleolar region and to which a rod is connected.
The rod surrounds the leg at the rear and is then curved so as to laterally affect the leg until it is associated, at its ends, in the malleolar region, with a lever system which is articulated to a structure protruding from the wheel supporting frame.
The lever system protrudes to the rear of the frame and is connected to a plate which is shaped approximately complementarily to the curvature of part of an underlying and facing wheel.
This solution is not free from drawbacks: first of all a relative movement is produced between the band and the leg throughout sports practice, and this does not make its use comfortable due to the continuous rubbing of the band on the leg.
Furthermore, the plate is activated every time the user bends his leg backwards beyond a given angle, with no actual and real possibility of varying this condition.
Since the shape of the leg is different for each user, for the same rod length there is different braking action at different rotation angles.
Furthermore, the rod acts and presses in the malleolar region, and this can cause discomfort or accidental impacts.
The wheel wears out considerably.
As a partial solution to this drawback, U.S. Pat. No. 4,275,895 discloses a brake for skates with two pairs of mutually parallel wheels which acts at the rear wheels.
Said brake is constituted by a tongue associated, in a rearward position, with the shoe; a plate is associated in a rearward position with said tongue and is pivoted at the supporting frame of the shoe.
Said plate has, at its free end, a transverse element on which a pair of C-shaped elements is formed at the lateral ends; said C-shaped elements interact, following a backward rotation imparted to the tongue, with the rear wheels facing them, so as to interact with their rolling surface.
However, this solution, too, has drawbacks; it is in fact structurally complicated and thus difficult to industrialize: it furthermore entails the presence of adapted springs which allow to reposition the tongue in the condition in which the pair of C-shaped elements does not interact with the wheels, and this further increases structural complexity.
The structural configuration of the brake furthermore makes the pair of C-shaped elements interact with the wheel even for a minimal backward rotation imparted to the tongue and thus even for involuntary movements, and this produces unwanted braking actions and therefore possible loss of balance or lack of coordination.
Finally, interaction of the C-shaped element at the rolling surface of the wheels leads to rapid wheel wear and thus to a non-optimum rolling that necessarily entails continuous wheel replacement.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,300,781 discloses a braking device for skates comprising pairs of mutually parallel wheels.
The brake is constituted by a plate pivoted transversely at the rear end of the supporting frame for a shoe; pads facing the rolling surface of the pair of rear wheels are associated with the ends of said plate.
The brake is activated by using a cable suitable to rotate the plate in contrast with a spring associated with the support for the pair of front wheels, so as to move the pads into contact with the rolling surface of the pair of rear wheels.
Said cable can be activated by means of rings or handles associated with a band arrangeable on the user's legs by virtue of temporary connection means.
However, this solution has considerable drawbacks: first of all, brake activation can lead to possible loss of balance during sports practice, since the user does not assume, with his body, a position suitable to control the sudden speed reduction; only the hand of the skater is in fact involved in brake activation.
Furthermore, since sports practice can occur while wearing trousers, when traction is applied to the rings the band may slip along the trousers or may make them slide along the legs, hindering the braking action.
Furthermore, there is a loose cable which in addition to being a hindrance to the skater may accidentally catch during skating, especially since coordination of the arm-legs movement places the legs rhythmically laterally outwards.